How to Track Your Intensity for Better Workouts

How to Track Your Intensity for Better Workouts By Paige Waehner  Intensity is probably one of the most important aspects of your workouts. For cardio, you want to at least be working at a moderate intensity and, if you're doing high intensity interval training, you want to work even harder for that. So, how do you know what moderate intensity is? There are some tools you can use to track your intensity. Calculating Your Target Heart Rate   How hard you work determines how many calories you burn, how quickly you build endurance, and whether you're getting the absolute most out of your exercise time. One way measure that is by using the Karvonen Formula, a mathematical formula that helps you determine your target heart rate zone. READ NOW Understanding Your Maximum Heart Rate   Your maximum heart rate (MHR) is just one of the numbers you need to know when you're calculating your target heart rate. Here's the deal on what MHR is and how to figure it out. READ NOW Is Your Target Heart Rate Accurate?   ​The short answer to this question is, not really. The calculations we use can help give us some guidelines to follow, but it's up to us to take those numbers and change them to fit our own perceived exertion. READ NOW Perceived Exertion Scale   When exercising, it's important to monitor your intensity to make sure you're working at a pace that is challenging enough to help you reach your goals, but not so hard that you blow a lung. One way to do that is to use a Perceived Exertion Scale.  READ NOW Advertisement READ THESE NEXT Understanding Asthma Understanding Type 2 Diabetes Understanding Plaque Psoriasis Understanding Rheumatoid Arthritis Understanding Lung Cancer AN ABOUT.COM BRAND You are receiving this newsletter because you subscribed to the Exercise newsletter. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here 1500 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, NY, 10036 © 2016 Verywell.com - All rights reserved. Privacy Policy.